440C - To Buy or Not to Buy? A steel snob's dilemma

jdm61 said:
I have seen a Buck 110 in what I assume was 420HC take a ridiculously sharp edge to the point where is would cleave a folded Rizla cigarette paper free standing on its end. It just won't hold it for very long compared to some other steels.
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if it is old enough it could have been their 425 steel as well
 
I used to feel the same way about steels. I can't use O1 tool steel when I can have s110v or 10v. Then I quit worrying about steel. It turns out we have wonderful cutlery steel here in the US. Wood, rope and food hasn't changed much. 440c and 1080 high carbon still just fine.

BTW - I used an O1 Nessmuk today. It performed wonderful
 
O1 is an excellent steel, properly HT'd, which is the common theme. improper HT will ruin any steel.
 
I'm starting to like this guy!
Gaston444 said:
The most serious steel test I have ever seen had 440C blow the doors off CPM3V in edge holding, and it did the same with everything else in fact... As far as I can determine, the test was in a 1998-1999 issue of "Tactical Knives", and all the tested blades were test mules specifically made for the test...

440C bested everything on manila rope by over 50%, except maybe D-2, which was still behind... And this included the first two CPM steels and INFI, which were not even that high...

In that test CPM3V was really second rate... I would avoid it. I've found S30V to be terrible as well. That being said, the worst blade I have ever seen was in 440C...

Gaston
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The funniest part is that he thinks his randall is 440c. ROTFLMAO
 
Cobalt said:
The funniest part is that he thinks his randall is 440c. ROTFLMAO
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Hasn't Randall been using 440B for the longest time? Anyway, 440C done right may be just fine for a folder, especially if the maker is trying to cut costs. I just don't really trust that it comes from the mill all that great. You can rub and rub but you can't ever shine a turd. Buy once, cry once. Get something you know is going to be good. A fixed blade from tops in 440C probably can't be relied on. Not because 440C is absolutely horrible, but because tops is unreliable and 440C is unreliable and those two mixed could be really bad
 
Yes, when I got my randalls in the late 90's they were using O1 and 440B. Maybe in the 80's they may have used C but not late 90's and later.
 
I really like my esee izula in 440c, very good edge retention, no regrets. Wanted to try a non-coated ESEE
 
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bodog said:
Hasn't Randall been using 440B for the longest time? Anyway, 440C done right may be just fine for a folder, especially if the maker is trying to cut costs. I just don't really trust that it comes from the mill all that great. You can rub and rub but you can't ever shine a turd. Buy once, cry once. Get something you know is going to be good. A fixed blade from tops in 440C probably can't be relied on. Not because 440C is absolutely horrible, but because tops is unreliable and 440C is unreliable and those two mixed could be really bad
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I have to say that I disagree with your statement on TOPS knives. I have no experience with their 440C yet but their differentially HTd 10-95 has been great for me. To each their own though. Maybe your experience was different.
 
sabre cat said:
You mention Aus6 and 440A. I find very little information available about AUS6. Does anyone still use it?
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CRKT was doing a lot with AUS6, even AUS4 if I recall correctly. :eek:
I don't think it's very good steel, but I've purchased a couple for the novelty of the designs.

I can get by with AUS8, but really AUS10 is a big improvement for what should only be pennies more.
 
AUS10 is very similar to 440c. AUS8A is pretty much equal to 440B and AUS6A is pretty much 440A.
 
Gaston is still confused. The article he keeps referring to is not as he thinks. He is thinking of one that compared S60V/440V/CPM T440V and was referenced at this website and is in the archives here. I linked to it one of the last times we went through this stuff with him. Somebody else can look it up this time.

Aus 6 is a decent steel that has been done horribly by some companies. Done well it occupies the same categories as 420HC, 12C, and 13C Sandvik steels, AEBL, and some others. Aus10 is indeed like 440C but has some changes to keep the grain structure down and solve some of 440C's weaknesses. Probably better even would be the new powder version put out by Carpenter, CTS 40CP perhaps?
 
Gaston444 said:
The most serious steel test I have ever seen had 440C blow the doors off CPM3V in edge holding, and it did the same with everything else in fact... As far as I can determine, the test was in a 1998-1999 issue of "Tactical Knives", and all the tested blades were test mules specifically made for the test...

440C bested everything on manila rope by over 50%, except maybe D-2, which was still behind... And this included the first two CPM steels and INFI, which were not even that high...

In that test CPM3V was really second rate... I would avoid it. I've found S30V to be terrible as well. That being said, the worst blade I have ever seen was in 440C...

Gaston
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To everyone else reading this, Gaston is a troll whose primary purpose is to spread nonsense and misinformation. Do not believe him, or anything he says because it is garbage misinformation.

Gaston, you say "the most serious steel test you've ever seen" was in this magazine, which when challenged to come up with this magazine test, all you can say is:

Gaston444 said:
The test exists, and I have been trying for years to find the relevant issues, or contact anyone who can help. I've narrowed down the publication to "Tactical Knives" and the timeframe to 1998-1999
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I've seen you make this claim multiple times before when challenged. So, let me see if I have this right. A test that you consider "the most serious steel test you've ever seen", and you don't even have a copy? Not even a scanned page or two from this 17 or 18 year old magazine? Nothing? All you know is some magazine article* way back when somehow shows an inferior steel somehow beating absolutely superior steels in some serious head-to-head contest? Really? Not one page, or even the exact title of the article? You can't even tell us what issue it was in? Anyone else find that odd? Anybody? "The most serious steel test", and NO ONE can locate this test, this article, or issue of this magazine?

That to me says you know you're lying, or else you know the test you claim to have seen was falsified, and you're attempting to obfuscate that fact behind the misdirection of "Well, it was in this one magazine, way back when, and I don't know exactly what issue, I don't know what the article was called, and somehow can't find so much as a scan anywhere at all on the Internet." I can't speak for others, but this sad attempt at spouting garbage misinformation, and when challenged, claiming that you can't find the source of your garbage misinformation, is disingenuous at best.

People need to be calling you out every single time you start this spin machine up, because you've mentioned this several times before and it's just played out at this point. There are people who are genuinely looking for information, who will read your posts, and then go parrot that garbage misinformation elsewhere.

Find the exact article, so that test can be properly evaluated, or stop using it in an attempt to spread this trash. Please and thank you.





*Because certainly magazine articles would never be skewed to sell a particular product, or to mislead the reader into seeing things the editor's way. Noooo, of course not.
 
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